Flight path change at Sonoma County Airport generate thousands of noise complaints
Residents living near the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport say the skies above their neighborhoods are getting louder as passenger traffic and jet service continue to grow.
Airport officials say they received nearly 30,000 noise complaints in 2025, compared with about 1,100 in 2023. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the airport received 15,530 complaints, with 8,500 in April.
Neighbors in west Sonoma County say the noise increased sharply more than two years ago, when the Federal Aviation Administration changed departure flight patterns. Some residents say planes now fly more directly over their homes, especially on weekends.
"It literally comes over this house, over these redwoods and heads west to Occidental," resident Paul Zehrer said.
Zehrer and others say flights can come just minutes apart on busy days.
"Sunday afternoons, flights are five minutes apart. Sometimes less," he said.
"The procedures are regulated by the FAA," airport manager Jon Stout said. "They control flight procedures, air traffic. We don't control the planes once they leave the ground."
The airport has hired consultants to study potential changes, including requiring planes to reach higher altitudes before turning west. Stout said that could help reduce noise and spread flight paths farther south.
"We're trying to get the FAA to put that old procedure as primary, while the airport works on drafting procedural changes we want to submit to the FAA," Stout said.
Residents have formed the West Sonoma County Jet Noise Coalition and say they plan to continue pressing airport officials, county supervisors and congressional representatives for relief.
"With the increased activity at the airport, it's going to get worse," Zehrer said. "Share the burden. Let's move these around a little bit. It's not impossible to solve something like this."
Airport officials say the addition of Southwest Airlines earlier this year has contributed to more complaints, with some departures starting at 6 a.m.